Amnesty International accuses Israel of wilfully killing of Palestinians in the West Bank

Updated
February 27, 2014 14:24:00

A new report by Amnesty International has accused Israel of carrying out wilful killings of Palestinian civilians in the West Bank. Forty-five Palestinians have been killed in the past three years, many of them last year. The report alleges that many of the victims posed no threat to Israeli forces and that troops have displayed a harrowing pattern of unlawful killings.

ELEANOR HALL: Amnesty International has issued a report which accuses Israel of carrying out wilful killings of Palestinian civilians in the West Bank.

This report alleges that many of the 45 Palestinians killed in the last three years posed no threat to Israeli forces and that troops displayed a harrowing pattern of unlawful behaviour.

Middle East correspondent Hayden Cooper.

HAYDEN COOPER: For Amnesty International one case stands out in the recent history of Israeli army action in the West Bank.

It's the killing of a 16-year-old boy. Samir Awad was shot during a protest. Amnesty says its research shows the Palestinian boy was running away.

PHILIP LUTHER: Medical reports, eyewitness accounts all point to Samir Awad, a 16-year-old, having been shot twice in the back as he was fleeing back to his village. The evidence points to him having been wilfully killed; a wilful killing is a grave breach of international law and would amount to a war crime.

PHILIP LUTHER: What this report documents is a really worrying pattern of unlawful killings.

HAYDEN COOPER: Amnesty says 45 Palestinians have been killed in the past three years - 22 last year alone.

Philip Luther again.

PHILIP LUTHER: What Samir Awad's case shows, and in fact every case that we've documented in this report shows, is that the Israeli forces were using grossly excessive force when faced with protests. We're acknowledging in the report that some of those protests are peaceful, some of those protests become violent. The question is how the Israeli forces respond to that violence.

In the vast majority of cases when that violence happens it's stone throwing youths and our analysis is that they have not been posing a serious threat to life and that grossly excessive force was used and therefore the killings were unlawful.

PETER LERNER: I would say frankly that that sounds inaccurate, misleading and misrepresenting of the actual reality on the ground.

HAYDEN COOPER: Peter Lerner is the chief spokesman for the Israeli Defence Force.

PETER LERNER: First of all, the situation that we face, we use the force in a manner that is in line with the rules of engagement, enables us to utilise all of the tools of riot dispersal means. We go through a whole procedure before we reach any sort of extreme measures.

It's a huge challenge but as I said, the Palestinian violence, whether it's Molotov cocktails, these are fire bombs that if they hit you you're dead. That's the reality and that is a clear and present threat that you have to take it out of the equation. That is what we're facing.

We do take this business seriously. Nothing is automatic, no automated machines, everything is run, reviewed and when required, when necessary, we carry out investigations and people do pay the price when they're wrong.

HAYDEN COOPER: How many soldiers have been demoted as a result of these sorts of incidents?

PETER LERNER: I know from last year of two instances, specific instances just off the top of my head so I don't have specifics.

HAYDEN COOPER: Amnesty says the Israeli system of internal investigations is inadequate and lacking transparency.

Philip Luther wants an overhaul.

PHILIP LUTHER: Essentially the military who perpetrated the killing are investigating themselves and that's why we believe there is such a lack of accountability.

HAYDEN COOPER: The Israeli military says this report ignores one crucial issue - the rise in Palestinian violence.